Faith-based program aims to revive troubled neighborhood

Hundreds of people came to sing and pray Friday evening in a Washington Park lot
that was once a haven for prostitution and drug dealers.

Brand New Beginnings, a faith-based, non-profit
organization that provides assistance to homeless mothers on the
South Side, organized the third annual Southern-style tent revival.
The lot is adjacent to the Brand New Beginnings headquarters at
58th Street and Indiana Avenue.

The event featured speakers, gospel music and dance performed by
members of the Crusaders Church, an evangelical church in Chicago.
Designed to bring the community together, promote a discussion of problems and and
encourage positive change, the revival drew around 250 people, according to Brand New Beginnings founder Della Mitchell.

"We believe in the power of prayer and with putting faith in the
word of God," said the Rev. Elbert Parker, pastor of Crusaders Church. "We believe in using
faith to enact change."

"Fifty-eighth Street used to be filled with heroin," said Parker. "People
were selling and stashing dope here." According to Parker, that's
not the case any more. Prostitution has also declined in the area since Brand New
Beginnings moved in, he said.

According to Mitchell, Brand New Beginnings has worked closely with police to monitor and report suspected prostitution. Residents say the system seems to be working.

Mitchell, who says she has been an activist since the age of seven, has been involved in public housing issues for many years.
She was a lead organizer with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless for 15 years. She has helped organize counseling services and women's empowerment
programs - like 'dress to
impress' workshops for homeless single mothers trying to enter the
workforce.

Brand New Beginnings emerged out of the work Mitchell was doing
with the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless 11 years ago.

"The women I was working with faced a lot of the same issues," said
Mitchell. "They would say to me, 'We are homeless with all these
abandoned buildings around us.'

"So I said, 'Sure, we'll sell candied apples and all that', not
really thinking about how much money it would really cost" to buy an abandoned building.

Through fundraisers - including candied apple sales - Brand New
Beginnings was able to raise the $350 needed to purchase the 32-unit
building at 113 E. 58th St. from the city's abandoned
properties program in 2001.

But they needed $2.7 million to make the building habitable.

By applying for funds and working with the Illinois Housing
Department Authority, the federal Community Development Block
Grant program, and private investors in Chicago, the organization had the building ready later that year. They received 500 calls in two days, Parker said.

In November, the organization will make another 24 units available
in a second building across the street, purchased in 2007 for $3.9 million.

The new building will house recovering substance abusers
enrolled in rehabilitation programs.

Residents of the mostly three-bedroom units must be eligible for public housing assistance.

The program also provides counseling, vocational training,
transportation to clinics, and abuse
intervention.

"[We] want the young women to stop selling their bodies. We want
the young men to stop selling dopeâ€¦we're teaching them how to
invest. But not giving them false hope," said Mitchell. "It will be hard work and
take a while."

Mitchell says the effort is different from other
outreach organizations. "The main ingredient of what we do is God
and prayer," she said. You need faith behind any effort, she said.
That's why they chose to rally the community with a tent revival.

"We teach prayer and faith," said Mitchell, "but we can't force
religion." Spiritual advisors from the Crusaders Church are
available for anyone who wants their guidance.

Mitchell would like to see 100 more units of affordable housing in
the area, as well as businesses and services like
grocery stores and a library.